Ratindra Das Workshop and Brush Strokes Exhibit

Last week I attended a 3-day watercolor workshop in Hot Springs Village taught by Ratindra Das and sponsored by Brush Strokes.  I learned some important things about managing paint on wet paper, and I painted four paintings wet on wet on a vertical easel.  However,  I don't favor Ratindra's "flat shapes" painting style, and was unsuccessful replicating it in my paintings.  I've attached a painting of sailboats in a harbor on Maui that I did in the workshop, but it looks a lot like my usual style.

Ratindra also judged the annual Brush Strokes exhibit hanging in the Woodlands auditorium lobby in Hot Springs Village, and I was awarded second place for my painting Mountain View Arkansas Barn.  This is a rather old painting.  I had planned to exhibit a different painting, but it sold from my This Fair Land exhibit at the Fine Arts Center of Hot Springs in March.

Close of Show at the Fine Arts Center

My exhibit at the Fine Arts Center of Hot Springs closed last week. Unfortunately, neither of the Gallery Walk evenings worked well for me... the Fine Arts Center closed for the actual evening, due to snow earlier in the day, and we had very few visitors for the following Friday's special reception. However, my sales at the Center were good, with seven original paintings and a fair number of prints and notecard sets finding new homes during the month. To top it all off, due to some heavy rain around the end of the month, five of my paintings hanging in the Center suffered water damage. Fortunately, the paintings themselves and their frames were not damaged, but I needed to disassemble, clean, re-mat, and reassemble them.

My next major exhibit will be at Artists Workshop Gallery in Hot Springs for the month of July, with an opening reception during Gallery Walk on July 4. Perhaps we'll see some of of the art fans who did not make it to my exhibit at the Fine Arts Center. I also have my large painting Mountain View Arkansas Barn currently hanging in the lobby of the Woodlands Auditorium in Hot Springs Village.

Our Fair Land Exhibit - Reprise

My opening reception last Friday was cancelled because the Fine Arts Center of Hot Springs closed due to bad weather. I am happy to announce that the reception has been rescheduled for this Friday, March 14, from 5 to 9 p.m. I am told that several galleries which closed last Friday will be staying open late. I hope you will be able to stop by this Friday to say Hello and enjoy the art. If you cannot make it, my paintings will be on display (without me) at the Fine Arts Center until April 2. The Center is open Tuesday through Friday 10 - 4, and Saturday 12 - 4.

Second Prize in Richard Stephens Students Watercolor Exhibit

Richard Stephens sponsored an exhibit for everyone who took his beginners watercolor course at the Garland County Library.  Richard has been teaching this six-week course for about eight years.  I took his course in the summer of 2004 - it was just about the first watercolor course I attended.  I entered the painting Lazy Afternoon into Richard's exhibit, the same painting juried into the 2008 MSW Annual Exhibit (see 2nd previous post).  At the library reception on March 5, I was awarded second prize.  Gary Simmons was the exhibit judge.  Richard has been a very positive influence - both in training and encouragement - during my four-year watercolor journey.

Our Fair Land Exhibit

I am featured artist for the month of March at the Fine Arts Center of Hot Springs, 610A Central Avenue.  I will be exhibiting over 30 paintings, a number of which have never been shown before.  My painting Mountain View Arkansas Barn (shown here), whose image is included in the 2008 Arkansas Artists Calendar published by the Governor's Mansion Association, will be included.  Most of these paintings capture the beauty and tranquility of Our Fair Land - rural America and its coastal waters.  I will also have some matted, unframed paintings and prints available.  Please stop by and say "hello" at my opening reception on Friday, March 7, from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m., during Hot Springs Gallery Walk.

Painting Juried Into MSW 2008 Annual Exhibit

This week, I found out that my painting Lazy Afternoon was juried into the Mid-Southern Watercolorists 2008 Annual Exhibit.  This is a vignette style painting, and is one of my all-time favorites.  I feel fortunate, as there are many high-quality submissions to the MSW exhibit each year.  I'll also be displaying this painting at Richard Stephens' Student Exhibit at the Garland County Library in Hot Springs during March.  The Reception for that exhibit is at 5 pm on Wednesday, March 5.

Brush Strokes Galleria

Join me at the second annual Brush Strokes Galleria, which will be held at Coronado Center in Hot Springs Village on Saturday, November 3, from 10 am to 3 pm. There will be many Brush Strokes members exhibiting and selling their art, as well as artist demonstrations and free refreshments. In addition to original paintings, I will have prints and note cards available.

Featured Artist at Lauray's

I will be featured artist for the month of November at Lauray’s The Diamond Center, located at 402 Central Avenue in Hot Springs. There will be an opening reception from 5 pm to 9 pm on Friday, November 2, during Gallery Walk. I will have more than a dozen small and medium size paintings on display. Stop by to say “hello”, have a snack, and enjoy the art.

Featured Artist at Lauray's Jewelers

I will be featured artist for the month of November at Lauray's The Diamond Center, located at 402 Central Avenue in Hot Springs. There will be an opening reception from 5 pm to 9 pm on Friday, November 2. I will have more than a dozen small and medium size paintings on display. Please join me to say "hello", have a snack, and enjoy the art.

First Place in Diamond Exhibit

Yesterday evening I was awarded the First Place Purchase Award in the Watercolor category of the Diamond National Juried Exhibit for my painting Lake House. I was surprised and honored, as the quality of the paintings in this exhibition is very high. Thanks to everyone who worked to make the exhibition a success, and especially to judge Marlene Gremillion, president of Mid-Southern Watercolorists and an accomplished artist and art teacher.

The award was $750, with my painting going into the permanent collection of the Fine Arts Center of Hot Springs. I'm very excited about having one of my paintings on continual exhibition at the Fine Arts Center.

Featured Artist at Mountain Valley Spring Company

John Keller and I will be featured artists at Mountain Valley Spring Company, 150 Central Avenue, Hot Springs, Arkansas, 71901, for the months of September and October. Please join us at our opening reception during gallery walk on Friday, September 7, at 5 pm. Mountain Valley has a beautiful art venue on the mezzanine level overlooking the main floor. There is free parking during gallery walk in the lot on the north side of the building.

I will have a large number of paintings on display, including many new paintings, some nicely framed prints of barns and Hot Springs bathhouses, and a good selection of unframed original paintings, prints, and note cards. I hope to welcome many friends, both old and new, this Friday evening.

Two Paintings Juried Into Diamond Exhibition

The Third Annual Diamond Exhibition will be held at the Fine Arts Center of Hot Springs from September 5 through October 2, with a reception on Friday, September 7 from 5 to 9 pm. This is a regional competition for all media of original artwork. This year's judge will be Marlene Gremillion of Hot Springs Village.

Forty paintings were juried into the exhibition by an artist panel, and I was very pleased to learn that two of my entries were accepted, In The Woods and Lake House.

Brush Strokes Exhibition at Garland County Library

The annual Brush Strokes competitive exhibition at Garland County Library opened on Saturday, June 30 with an afternoon reception. Unfortunately, I was away and unable to attend the reception. Charles Harrington, a very accomplished acrylics painter, judged the exhibit. Charles had just taught a 3-day workshop for the Brush Strokes art club in Hot Springs Village.

I saw the exhibit yesterday, and was impressed with the quality of the entries. There are almost 40 paintings hanging. I entered Country Christmas, a half-sheet snow scene (image attached), but did not win an award.

This exhibit is well worth seeing. It will be hanging in the library until the end of August.

Brush Strokes Exhibition at Woodlands Auditorium

The annual Brush Strokes art club exhibition at Woodlands Auditorium in Hot Springs Village will be hanging during June, July and August. I took a look at it a few days ago, and was very impressed. The work is all of very high quality, and it is hung nicely, without any crowding. It is very much worth a visit.

I have two paintings hanging in this exhibition. They are both quarter-sheet paintings, and are waterscapes... one with a shrimp boat working in rough seas, and the other a fishing boat docked in a swampy area. I've included their images here.

Gallery Walk Evening

The Hot Springs Gallery Walk on Friday evening, June 1, was a success for me and Sheliah, the featured artists at Artists' Workshop Gallery. We had lots of help, including my wife Jeanette, Millie Steveken, Tony and Amanda Tabone, and Joe and Azelia Efferson, and that was a good thing, because the gallery was very busy. A number of personal friends and previous collectors stopped by. We didn't have much food or drink left at the end of the evening.

I sold three original paintings, including one sold earlier in the day, and several packages of note cards. One of these was Solitude, the largest painting I've yet done (28 x 40" framed). I've included an image of it here. I promised Jeanette I'd paint her another similar painting in the near future, as it was one of her favorites... so, there it is in writing.

Hopefully I'll sell a few more paintings and prints during June, as I have quite a bit of hanging space this month as featured artist.

Featured Artist at Artists Workshop Gallery in June

Sheliah Halderman and I will be featured artists at Artists Workshop Gallery for the month of June. Our kickoff is Friday evening, June 1, during the Hot Springs Gallery Walk. We will host a reception from 5 to 9 pm.

I will be exhibiting many new paintings, from small (16 x 20" framed) to very large (28 x 40" framed). There will be rural landscapes and "lakescapes", several boats being pounded by waves in the open sea, and even a tropical sunset. I'll also have available a framed giclee print of a young boy fishing - I can't bring myself to let go of the original, as the model is my grandson. I'll also have some original paintings with dramatic skies available matted but unframed for very reasonable prices. And as always, note cards of my favorite paintings will be available in sets, and I'll have two sizes of inexpensive matted prints of my bathhouse paintings available (the originals have all been sold long ago).

There will be plenty of variety, with something to capture the imagination of just about everyone. So please stop by on Friday evening June 1 to say "hello" and partake of some refreshments while you're enjoying my artwork, and if you can't make it Friday evening, visit the gallery some other time during June to see a large and varied collection of my watercolors.

Mid-Southern Watercolorists Gold Award

This year the 37th Annual Mid-Southern Watercolorists Juried Exhibition included 38 paintings selected from 172 entries submitted by members from 9 states, and I felt fortunate to have my painting Biker juried into the exhibit. The exhibit is ongoing until May 19 at the Cox Creative Center, 2nd floor, 120 Commerce Street, Little Rock, AR 72201. It is a terrific venue... one can stand in the center of the exhibit area and see almost all of the paintings without having to walk from room to room.

Last night awards were announced, and I was extremely pleased to receive the Gold Award, the top award, for my painting. It was a real honor to be highly placed among so many excellent watercolor artists, and an experience that I won't forget for a long time.

Biker was also selected by the Arkansas Art Center as part of an 18-painting traveling exhibit that will be shown in vairous venues around Arkansas during the rest of 2007.